Sunday, January 07, 2007
Youth is Wasted on the Young
My husband is quite possibly the biggest fan of It’s a Wonderful Life, the Christmas classic starring Jimmy Stewart. I groan when he insists on watching it every year, and most years he watches it alone. This last Christmas though, I humored him, and said I’d watch it with him, except for the part when Uncle Billy loses the money—that scene is too wrenching. In another scene, George Bailey and his future wife, Mary, are flirtatiously tiptoeing around an inevitable embrace. A man on a nearby porch gets fed up with their dilatory dalliance, and disgustedly pronounces that “youth is wasted on the wrong people.”
Here, here! Do young people realize what an incredible time they are at in their lives? Do they gratefully acknowledge the good health, vitality, and energy they possess? Do they appreciate the myriad exciting choices and splendid opportunities that are within their grasp? Do they possess an enthusiasm verging on euphoria, of “the sky’s the limit, and anything’s possible!”? Is this what today’s youth is thinking about?
Unfortunately some of them are dismally and dourly thinking about death. At least, that’s my conclusion after my experience last month as a judge for a high school speech competition. Granted, I was judging a Drama event, and I suppose that genre encourages the students toward interpreting tragic and theatrical pieces. But even so, I was mortified to discover that in the round I judged, all six of the presentations dealt with death.
I listened to a bleak story of a young soldier dying in Iraq, another about a single woman coping with the emotional upheaval after her abortion, and then a disturbing piece rampant with the ranting and raving of a 1920’s flapper in a sanatorium after her husband’s suicide attempt.
The second half of the round was equally lacking in joie de vivre. I was further depressed by a selection about a teenage girl’s resentment at the death of her mother, the troubling tale of a young child who drowned in a swamp, and perhaps the most upsetting of all, the vivid and horrifying description of a Muslim girl being burned alive by her brother because of perceived shame to the family. It was seriously oppressive.
Perhaps it was because of that dreary competition that I was willing to watch the heartwarming Capra movie. It is true that in this movie, George plans a “benevolent” suicide that will save his family, but in the end, he realizes the folly of such action, and rejoices in life’s good things—his health, his family, his friends, his faith. And those blessings are what make it, at any age, a wonderful life.
Here, here! Do young people realize what an incredible time they are at in their lives? Do they gratefully acknowledge the good health, vitality, and energy they possess? Do they appreciate the myriad exciting choices and splendid opportunities that are within their grasp? Do they possess an enthusiasm verging on euphoria, of “the sky’s the limit, and anything’s possible!”? Is this what today’s youth is thinking about?
Unfortunately some of them are dismally and dourly thinking about death. At least, that’s my conclusion after my experience last month as a judge for a high school speech competition. Granted, I was judging a Drama event, and I suppose that genre encourages the students toward interpreting tragic and theatrical pieces. But even so, I was mortified to discover that in the round I judged, all six of the presentations dealt with death.
I listened to a bleak story of a young soldier dying in Iraq, another about a single woman coping with the emotional upheaval after her abortion, and then a disturbing piece rampant with the ranting and raving of a 1920’s flapper in a sanatorium after her husband’s suicide attempt.
The second half of the round was equally lacking in joie de vivre. I was further depressed by a selection about a teenage girl’s resentment at the death of her mother, the troubling tale of a young child who drowned in a swamp, and perhaps the most upsetting of all, the vivid and horrifying description of a Muslim girl being burned alive by her brother because of perceived shame to the family. It was seriously oppressive.
Perhaps it was because of that dreary competition that I was willing to watch the heartwarming Capra movie. It is true that in this movie, George plans a “benevolent” suicide that will save his family, but in the end, he realizes the folly of such action, and rejoices in life’s good things—his health, his family, his friends, his faith. And those blessings are what make it, at any age, a wonderful life.
Comments:
<< Home
Wow, I'm glad I didn't have to sit through all those morbid dramatic performances! I prefer to be uplifted when I'm entertained -- I like to watch and read positive and funny things. But your title topic is one that could be expanded on -- for instance, what would you do differently if you could go back to being 19 and know what you know now? Would you take full advantage of your youth? Would your knowledge help you overcome the doubts and insecurities and confusion about your place in the world? Or wait, you probably never felt that!
I once visited a class of 14-15 year old girls that my mom was teaching and she asked me to share any advice I had for these girls, since I was in their same shoes a mere 7-8 years ago myself. I had much to say, but from the looks on the girls' faces, I knew they wouldn't listen to a single thing I had to offer. They obviously thought they already knew everything there is to know. Kids these days try so much to act like grownups that they miss out on the experiences that make being young wonderful.
Post a Comment
<< Home
